Hot Rods Low to No Optioned Cars

Heres a pretty bare & standard Studebaker beeing offered for sale locally. Actually looks like a nice oddball car.

 

Options! Psh... I'm lucky I have a rear-view mirror in my '35.

 

My '48 Chev sedan delivery had 4 delete plates in dash. I still have 2 of the plates. One for radio, one unknown, one for clock and another for roach tray.

 

I had a 1961 Buick two door sedan. The only option was the automatic transmission. No, it didn't have a radio. I was told that it was a doctor's car that he used for house calls. Try getting a doctor to make a house call today.

 

My 37 Chevy p/u is the lowest optioned vehicle I ever owned,it was ordered as a cab and chassis and nothing else.

 

I'll just paint a picture of what I would have ordered in 1965 (hint, it's not a 65).
Sorry, no photo, it wouldn't stay posted long anyway.
Base Chevyll two door sedan.
Check only three option boxes.
1) RPO L79 327 350 HP engine.
2) RPO M20 (Muncie) four speed transmission.
3) 4.56 positraction differential.
Stir gently and hold on!

 

57 Courier Sedan Delivery, bought it from the original owners- the gal rode home in it in the fall of 56 when her dad bought it. Corinthian White, 223- treeonnatree, original dog dishes and the el cheapo heater



Base Fairlane wagon, like the NHRA 427 cars were built from- Six and the tree and not much else. This one's for sale

 

We had the greatest old neighbor lady when I was growing up, like another Grandma to me and my brother. She called herself old fashioned because her cars were always the cheapest 6 cyl. Chevys with standard transmissions, no radio, carpet, power any thing, black walls, poverty caps and she always bought them when they were 4 or 5 years old. The ones I remember were a 47, a 52, a 57, a 62 and the last one before she passed away floored me. In 1969 she pulled in our drive way in a 66 Biscayne, I walked out to look it over and there on the front fenders were 396 emblems. The car was her normal 3 on the tree, no options except heater I told her she had kind of a hot rod there, she said some one told her the new 6 cyl Chevy engines were not as good as the old ones so she should get a V8. I asked her how she liked it and she said it would really get down the road but it sure was hard on gas! The 66 went to her grandson after she died and he had it a few months before he totaled it. Thanks for the memories. I had not thought of her or her plain jane Chevys in a long time.

 

My 57 chevy came with a 6 banger and a power slide, also a deluxe heater and thats it.

 

Hello,
In 1964, the new Chevelle El Camino came out to the Chevy dealers. They were the latest step in getting back the old original 1959 style El Camino. The new look was now in the Chevelle line up and a bit more modern with most of the Chevelle extras, except for the new 396 c.i. motor. It was a nice design and looks. The new thing was built in from the factory, longer air shocks for the rear. The inlet was inside of the cabin behind the passenger side seatback. That helped, since the market was for the working class larger truck users, but wanted something better inside, like a sedan.

Since most trucks were bare bones at the time, (not like the 60k extra laden pick ups of today) this new El Camino could be ordered just like a sedan or wagon. The chassis was based on the wagon and had an extra panel in the bed of the El Camino. Not until later, did custom car guys use that area for hidden storage. The factory should have made that removable panel usable with a locking latch.

The first El Camino that showed up were the extra laden ones with A/C, auto trans, new seating choices, like bucket seats and power everything including windows, brakes, and steering. It was a “No more driving a TRUCK.”

Jnaki

My next door neighbor drove up with a new Sea Foam Green El Camino. We immediately looked at it, up and down. One thing I noticed was the bare bones interior, the color coordinated rims and small hubcaps as well as a 6 cylinder motor. The interior did not have carpeting, but the standard rubber floor mats on a black coated floor surface. When I asked what the air valve was, sticking out of the behind the seat panel, they told me it was for the air shocks. We were impressed.

When we asked our teenage neighbor about the extras, he mentioned that his dad bought the car specifically for work and did not need all of the power and extras. Just a basic form of truck bed style pick up with the looks of a car. Or was it a car that looked like a truck with the bed in the back? The three speed transmission and 6 cylinder was all he needed for his work truck. There were times that I saw the back lowered with the nose in the air. He forgot to put air in the shocks and had to load a bunch of stuff in the back.
This similar model had the extra thin white wall tires as an option. My neighbor’s El Camino was a bare bones low to no optioned work truck.

Since I was in my last year of the 58 Impala ownership, I liked the look of my friends 62 Chevy Biscayne 409 that was painted and set up in a similar, no frills style. I envisioned a high performance 327 c.i. 300 hp V8, a 4 speed and Positraction for my El Camino order. We also needed it for our newly found desert motorcycle racing adventures. But first, I had to sell my 58 Impala in order to buy the new El Camino within the year. This order was not going to be a bare bones El Camino, but had to have the creature comforts included.

The 396 C.I. motors were on Chevelles, but not for the El Camino in 1965. My friend purchased a new 1966 4 speed model with a 396 C.I. motor...it was so much faster and it was so much more than my 1965 El Camino.

 

My Rambler Classic 550 was the lowest optioned Rambler you could get at the time, essentially a fleet car.
Rambler classic/ambassador models went like this lowest to highest;
classic 550
Classic 660
classic 770
Ambassador 800
Ambassador 880
Ambassador 990
(I wish I could find a source that says what each model adds going up the trim ladder)

This 550 is a 2 door, and the 1 option this one had is a locking gas cap.
Had no radio, clock, reverse lights. No carpet, just rubber mat. I believe 3 on tree.


I have since installed a radio and clock for looks, I thought the delete plates were ugly. Also got some reverse lights from a scrapyard. I also bought some NOS Ambassador taillight lenses and the car came with a second grill, an ambassador grill, I'll probably use that.
Also imitating the Rambler twin stick center console.

 

62 impala hardtop. 6cyl three speed on the column. radio and heater.

 

That's unusual, Impalas were top of the line. I like it.^

 

My 1950 chevy 360 (3/4 ton) was as stripped as they came. 3 speed on the tree, 15 inch wheels, no radio, the default green paint. I think the heater was an option though.

 

Used to have a '62 "Bisquick" that had a heater. That was it. Though at some point it got an oil filter kit added to the I-6. Might have been a GM package but I suspect it was more likely a J.C. Whitney.

Also have a '64 Plymouth Savoy in "Retirement Tan". So cheap it doesn't even have a "Savoy" nameplate anywhere on it. Slant six with a typewriter, heater and for some reason, power steering.

 

I came across the invoice for a car we special ordered from Ford in March 1964. When we finally got delivery 7 months later; it had our single option of the high-performance package plus correctly the radio and heater delete. I still have the car but always laugh because Ford decided to charge an additional $60 for the "heater delete". The whole performance package (engine, toploader, springs, 4.11 9") was only $471 over a base 6 cylinder and the whole car was only $2800

 

My 53 Mainline came with 2 options- a heater, and overdrive. Surprisingly, the heater was the more expensive option.

 

When I was a kid, my grandfather had the 80 F150 version of that. He insisted on buying the one that was listing in the newspaper ad. Tan on brown logbed, 6 cyl- stick, block off plates all over the dash. He added a high roof topper and we'd go camping and fishing in it. My grandmother bought a new Lincoln every 3 years, they both had very good pensions, don't know why he bought that particular truck.

 

Always liked the "strippers" I even considered leaving all the trim off the Chevy after the last paint job. There was a movie with a black 57 with no trim at all, i don't remember the movie but i think Gary Busey was in it. That Chevy looked wicked!

 

Taboo before the torch came out, lol. It was a pretty base 150 sedan that was originally used the county as the Sherriff's car. Only options was a AM radio and a V8. The Sherriff's office added its radio and antenna, and I think they had added spot lights and thats why now the door popper buttons are in the A post as its where you would cut a spot light hole

 

This hobby is based on the stripped down models. No fenders, no top, no nothing.

 

When Brenda's grandmother Jessie purchased the 1954 Ranch Wagon from Blue Ridge Motors here in Anderson, South Carolina for her flower shop she was looking for the best deal, she choose the wagon that had no heater and rubber floor mats, inline 6 and 3 on the tree, the only option was the Customline trim. HRP

 

My Dad bought a '67 Catalina four door brand new. Two barrel 400/automatic, AM radio and power steering were the only options. It often towed the camper; still can't believe it only had manual brakes! Had a teacher in high school who had a bare bones basic 1962 Chevy II two door. Can't recall if it had a four or six cylinder engine, but I remember he had one of the auto shop students put a radio in it.

 

"Running on Empty''?

 

That's it!!^^^^ Well done sir

 

What kind of car and what engine?

 

A friend sold this one a few months ago, no back seat business coupe

 

^^^^^^^ Nice........

 

At one time I had a 1959 Biscayne 2 door 315 hp 348 radio heater delete some one had istalled a small heater from an old pickup. In 1957 my dad bought a 1956 ford custom 2 dr that someone ordered but didn't pick up it was a short trim car no pass side sun visor or arm rest 312 3 speed overdrive.

 

Current daily driver.1965 Mercury comet 202 4 d sedan.
200cid threeontree.
Im not sure, but intermittent wipers and foot copparment courtesy lights might be options or standard items.
No power anything.